Gaffer set for another Dons test

16 January 2015

Nigel Clough says the Blades are looking forward to Saturday's fixture with the MK Dons at Stadium:MK.

A late Dele Alli strike settled the corresponding fixture at Bramall Lane last month, despite United dominating the game for long periods. And with that in mind, Clough is confident the weekend's encounter could go in the Blades favour, as it did in the Capital One Cup back in October.

But the Gaffer remains mindful of how good the Dons can be on the day, he remarked: "MK Dons have the ability to score goals, they scored seven against Oldham in December, but we have also seen them struggle to find the net in recent home games against Walsall and Chesterfield.

"On their day, they are probably the most dangerous side in the division, but Benik Afobe will be a big loss to them in the second-half of the season.

"He scored bags of goals for them, although Karl Robinson is a confident manager and MK Dons are a very confident side when they are on song, they still have a host of attacking threats."

Looking back on the defeat in December, Clough felt the loss was harsh on his side, sentiments echoed by his opposite number.

The Gaffer continued: "When we played them at Bramall Lane, we controlled the game, looked the most likely winners and restricted them to one shot on target; unfortunately it ended up in our net!

"Karl said after that game that nobody had put them under the pressure we did and he admitted they would have been happy with a 0-0 draw, which is surprising because they are one of the best teams in the league."